


Alec Lightwood, Baby Whisperer

by astudyinfic



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alec has mystical powers that make all babies (and one Magnus) love him instantly, Babies, Bad Parent Robert Lightwood, Family Feels, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-10
Updated: 2018-04-10
Packaged: 2019-04-21 06:09:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14278548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astudyinfic/pseuds/astudyinfic
Summary: Alec Lightwood was a fantastic Shadowhunter, the best big brother, a great parabatai, and the love of a certain warlock's considerably long life.  He was, in a word, extraordinary.But on top of all that, he had an uncanny ability to charm any baby that he came across.Magnus might be the warlock in their relationship, but there was something about Alec that was truly magical.





	Alec Lightwood, Baby Whisperer

**Author's Note:**

  * For [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts).



> From the prompt from my wife to write "Alec Lightwood Baby Whisperer Extraordinaire"
> 
> With most of the ideas pulled from [this Tumblr post](http://ocdaleclightwood.tumblr.com/post/172639213537/thelovelylights-okay-but-imagine-socially).

Maryse watched Alec climb up on the crib and look down at his baby sister.  "Izzybell!" he cried out, his smile happier than she'd ever seen. 

"Close, Alec.  Isabelle."

"Isabelle?"  When she nodded, Alec grinned and looked back at her.  They'd just brought her home, so tiny and helpless and Alec's stare was filled with rapture and love.  Maryse knew without a doubt that her sweet boy would be the greatest big brother Isabelle could ask for.  

He always wanted to help.  Whether it was changing her diaper or giving her a bottle, Alec was always right there, asking if there was anything he could do.  Often times, Maryse sat Izzy in his lap, gave him the bottle and the two children would sit silently for over an hour. 

Sometimes she wondered if there was something different about Alec.  Despite being her mother, Izzy never quieted when Maryse picked her up in the middle of the night.  She didn't sleep well, always wanting to be held and rocked and while Shadowhunters were known for being able to run on very little rest, this was pushing the limits of both Maryse and Robert.  Izzy usually calmed for him after about twenty minutes but it was exhausting work for them both. 

One night, when they thought they might finally get some rest, Izzy's ear-piercing cry echoed down the hall.  Maryse and Robert shared a look, one only married couples understood. Neither wanted to get up but they knew someone needed to.  

The battle of wills lasted only ten seconds before Izzy went silent.  They shared a look before Maryse was out of bed a moment later, wrapping her robe around her body as she hurried to her daughter's room, assuming the worst.  Izzy didn't stop crying for no reason. She just didn't. They'd tried and it failed miserably. So, the only explanation was something terrible had happened to her while she lay in her bed. 

Stepping into the dimly lit room, Maryse's breath caught in her throat as she saw something in the crib with Isabelle.  And while she'd assumed the worst, the reality couldn't have been farther from that. Curled up in his sister's bed, Alec lay with his face in front of hers, singing a soft song.  Isabelle wasn't asleep but instead watched her brother with absolute fascination. Maryse watched in amazement as Izzy drifted to sleep without even a whine. Alec leaned forward to kiss her forehead.  "I'll stay here all night, Izzybelle. I'll make sure you're safe. You just sleep."

Maryse thought for a moment that she should take him back to his room.  He was too big to be sleeping in such a small crib and he could roll over onto her and hurt her.  But she was so tired and Alec had never been anything but gentle with Izzy. Maybe just for this one night, she could leave them be.  

The next morning, well rested for the first time since Izzy was born, Maryse went to her daughter's room to find Alec sitting in the corner of the crib, watching his sister sleep.  "Shh, Mama. She needs to rest!" he told her with absolute sincerity. And who was Maryse to argue with that?

* * *

When Max was born, Izzy and Alec were well into their training.  Their parents knew they cared about their baby brother but between training and Jace, they just didn't see Max as much as they might have other under circumstances.  

Robert was pleased with the progress they were all making.  Jace was easily the best Shadowhunter of his generation. The training he received under Michael's tutelage had done him a world of good and he came in light years ahead of any other child of his age.  Isabelle was a natural with a whip, easily the most difficult weapon in his opinion. She was brilliant, studying forensic science on top of everything else and he knew she would be an asset to the Institute.  

And then there was Alec.  Always in the shadow of his younger siblings, he was good - great, even - but as the eldest, Robert expected more of him.  Alec tried and he did well but he was always tired. And Robert thought that might be what was holding him back. "Alec, a word," he growled one day after Jace knocked Alec to the ground once more. 

"Yes, dad?" he asked, running over to stand in front of him, the perfect soldier, ready to take and follow whatever order he was given.  

Robert looked at him, the bags under his eyes and wondered what it was that kept Alec up all night.  "You're done for the day. Take a shower and get some sleep. I'll see you back here at oh-seven-hundred tomorrow."

Alec looked confused but didn't argue, just nodded and went to place his staff back on the rack.  He shared a word with Jace and then headed for the dormitories, presumably to follow the unorthodox command Robert had given him.  He thought nothing more of it for the rest of the day. If nothing else, Alec was very good at following orders.

It wasn’t until late that night, when a meeting with the Head of the Tokyo Institute ran long, that Robert walked back towards their rooms in the other part of the building.  Passing Max’s rooms, he wasn’t surprised to see a light on but was surprised that Alec sat there on the floor next to the crib, his hand through the slots while his brother held tight to it, sleeping soundly.  

“I’ll protect you, Max.  I’ll teach you everything you need to know,” Alec promised, smiling at the baby who smiled back at him.  None of their children were ever content to just lie in the crib while awake. Robert didn’t know if any nephilim children were.  And Max had been no exception. But with Alec sitting there talking to him, Max looked as content as could be. 

But as soft and lovely as the scene was, he’d given Alec a direct order and his son chose to disobey it.  “Alec,” he hissed, causing Alec to jump, eyes wide as his head jerked towards the door. “I gave you an order to rest.  What do you think you are doing?”

Alec gently pulled his finger away from Max and pulled himself up to his full height, assuming the role of soldier instead of son or big brother.  “Max was fussing so I thought I would come and check on him.”

“And do you do this often?  Come in here and take care of your baby brother when you should be studying or training?”  He couldn’t believe Alec would neglect his duties like that. They would be having words in the morning once he wasn’t so tired.  “Don’t answer that. Go to be, Alec and I don’t want to see you out of your room again until morning, is that understood?”

“Yes, sir,” Alec said, though it was more sadly resigned than Robert could remember hearing his son ever.  Alec gave Max one last smile and then stepped out of his room. Robert watched him go to his own room and closing the door.  If Alec kept sacrificing his training time to spend time with the baby, they would need to set up some boundaries. Maybe the High Warlock could install wards to keep him in his room at night.

Robert turned to go back to his own room when Max started crying.  He sighed and settled in for a long night.

* * *

As they took Iris away, ready to face trial with the Clave for her crimes against women across the races, Alec saw a small shadow hiding behind the door, watching.  Kneeling down, he gave Madzie a small smile, knowing she had to be upset right about now. 

The little warlock didn’t waste any time, running up to him and throwing her arms around his neck.  “Nana,” she cried quietly and he shushed her, rubbing her back as he picked her up in his arms. “Why are you taking Nana?”

“Your Nana did a very bad thing and she has to go away for awhile.  But I promise I won’t let anything happen to you, okay? And I’m sure we’ll be able to see each other plenty.”  Alec hoped that would be the case. He knew Magnus would find someplace for her to go, his kind heart knew no bounds, but he didn’t know where Magnus would find for her to go.  If she left the city, the chances were that Alec would never see her again. 

Balancing her on his hip, Alec walked towards the door where Iris was fighting with her captors.  “Just give me one second,” she demanded and Alec nodded to them, expecting her to want to say goodbye to Madzie.  Instead, she turned to Alec, staring at him with a quizzical gaze. “Who are you? Madzie doesn’t like anyone and yet, she runs to you as if she’s known you her whole life.  I’ve never seen her do that with anyone. She won’t even run to me.”

Alec shrugged, “Maybe she just wants to feel safe.  I’ll protect her. I give you my word.” If the word of a Shadowhunter meant anything to her in the first place, but that was not Alec’s problem.  

It seemed Iris did accept that because she nodded and smiled.  “If Madzie likes you, then I trust you. There’s something about you that comforts her and I would be an awful person to deny her that comfort.  Thank you for watching her.”

Alec nodded to the two stunned Shadowhunters who led her away and looked back at Madzie.  “Let’s go get some ice cream, okay? ANd then I want to introduce you to a friend of mine.  His name is Magnus and I think you are going to like him a lot. 

* * *

"Alec!  We need you!"  

Isabelle's panicked voice carried down the hall to the Head of Institute office where Alec tried to work on paperwork while Magnus lounged on the couch, entertaining himself until his boyfriend was actually ready to leave for their date.

Despite his prone position, Magnus was on his feet almost as quickly as Alec was, both of them rushing down the hallway to where they heard her yelling from.  "I haven't felt anything come through the wards," Magnus assured him as they ran, which only meant that whatever this issue was, it was most likely Shadowhunter in nature.  

Magnus still wouldn't leave it to Alec to deal with alone, unless his boyfriend told him to.  He was there, he could help. Plus, hopefully, two sets of hands meant the problem would be dealt with quickly and they could finally be on there way to their date. 

They skidded to a halt as they rounded a corner and nearly collided with Isabelle.  And a baby. She didn't even say anything, just thrust the wailing infant into her brother's arms and stood back as if waiting for something to happen.  What, Magnus didn't know, but now he was more intrigued than anything else.

To his surprise, the baby calmed almost instantly.  Magnus watched Alec run a finger along the chubby cheek and smile down at the little one that couldn't have been more than a few weeks old.  The baby's cries stopped and began to coo at Alec. When the child grabbed Alec's finger and began to chomp down on it with its toothless gums, Magnus wondered if it was possible to fall even more in love with the man who stole his heart.  

Alec kissed the baby's forehead and he knew.  Yes. Yes, it was.

“What am I seeing here?” Magnus asked as Alec whispered to the baby, who was completely enraptured with Magnus’ hazel-eyed love.  

“You are seeing Alec Lightwood, Baby Whisperer.  We don’t know how he does it but every baby loves him.  Kids too.” Izzy’s eyes never left her brother and Magnus wondered how he never knew this before.  Sure, Madzie loved him but all children? This was something he needed to know. 

Eventually, Alec handed the baby back to Isabelle and returned to his office as if he hadn’t just turned Magnus’ whole world on its side.  

This was going to take some time.  

This was huge.  

This was one of the few things that could make Magnus love him even more.

* * *

“Can you believe he never told me?” Magnus ranted at his weekly Downworld leader get together, which was just an excuse to drink and complain with Raphael and Luke.  “I mean, if my boyfriend has some mystical ability to make all babies love him, I deserve to know about this, right?” Judging by the bored look on Raphael’s face and the amused one on Luke’s, maybe Magnus had been going on about this for too long. 

Luke took a sip of his drink and asked, “Do you think it would work on pups?  I mean, if he has this ability with Shadowhunter babies and warlock kids, why not werewolf pups as well.  It would be useful to have someone around who could calm the little monsters when they get going. I love them.  They’re like nieces and nephews to me, but if one starts howling, they all do, and then I have a headache for the next several hours.”

Magnus couldn’t believe what he was hearing and raised a brow at Lucian.  “You want my boyfriend, the Head of the Institute, to come over and babysit werewolf puppies?”

“Yes I do,” Luke said without any sense of guilt whatsoever.  Though, it didn’t sound like a bad idea. As far as missions went, that could be downright enjoyable.  So Magnus texted Alec and he agreed to meet them at the Jade Wolf the next day. 

Which would have been fine, if Alec showed up when he said he would.  Instead, he got held up by a phone call from the Clave that couldn’t wait and Magnus was ready to go to the Institute and drag him here if need be.  Luke wasn’t kidding about the howling. Even in human form, they seemed to make the same noise and Magnus was about to run away screaming when Alec finally walked in.  “I’m sorry. I couldn’t think of a kind way to say  _ I really don’t care what you do as long as you don’t mess up my city _ .  But I’m here now and I’m sorry for making you wait.”  He gave Magnus a quick kiss and looked at all the assembled children.  Some were in wolf form, others in human and all of them had silenced the moment Alec walked in, staring at him as if he were the greatest thing they’d ever seen.  

For the next three hours, Magnus and Luke watched in fascination as a Shadowhunter - the Head of the Institute - crawled around on the floor with half a dozen werewolf pups, playing with them like they were the most important thing in the world.  “I’ll hand it to you, Magnus. I wasn’t sure if I believed you when you told us about this last night but... I’ve never seen anything like this. He’s a natural. I’m going to put him on retainer because we are going to need him for every full moon from here on out.”  Alec grinned up at them as he heard the words before being pulled back down by three of the pups who all jumped on him at the same time. 

“He’s just so...  I mean, look at him, he’s...  I’ve never...” Magnus was not one to struggle for words.  He could argue his way into or out of any situation he chose.  But this moment, seeing the man he’d come to love heart and soul playing with Downworld children?  Well, there might have been some tears in his eyes. But that was simply from the chili oil they used in the kitchen, that’s all.  

“You’ve got a good one there, Magnus.  Don’t let him go,” Luke grinned, going in to mediate between the pups and Alec who were in a serious debate over whether Alec could join the pack or not.  

Magnus knew that letting Alec go was the last thing he would ever do. 

* * *

Magnus woke to an empty bed, not unusual when living with a Shadowhunter but definitely not as fun as waking to his beautiful husband next to him.  Considering his bow still leaned against the wall in the corner, Magnus knew he couldn’t have gotten far and slipped from their warm bed to go find him.  

Sleep was a difficult thing to come by in the Lightwood-Bane residence these days.  Ever since adopting their daughter, a baby warlock whose cat-like eyes looked just like her Papa’s, though they were lavender instead of gold-green, they fought for sleep whenever they could find it.  She was a good baby, slept well for someone her age, but she needed food and changing and sometimes just a little attention whenever she woke up. So if Alec was still in the loft but not in their bed, there was only one place he could be. 

Poking his head into their daughter’s room, Magnus covered his mouth from making any noise that might wake him.  Alec lay stretched out on the tiny couch they put in there, his legs dangling comically over one arm. His soft snores carried as far as the door so Magnus knew he was asleep.  Their little girl, however, was not. Her hand opened and closed as she stared at Alec, small golden sparks of magic falling from her fingers and dancing across Alec’s shirt, up to his face.  

Alec was not in any distress so Magnus wasn’t too concerned though he did wonder what kind of spell she was casting on her daddy, particularly since she was far too young to have any kind of control.  He crossed the distance and scooped her into his arms. “Hello, lovebug. What are you doing to poor daddy? Can I see?” The sparks still cascaded from her fingers and Magnus caught some in his hand, laughing when he recognized the magic.  “Oh, you are a smart one, aren’t you?” 

From the couch, Magnus could hear Alec waking up, slowly at first and then jumping to his feet when he realized he no longer had their daughter with him.  “It’s okay, darling, she’s right here.” Alec relaxed and sat back down. 

“I didn’t mean to fall asleep.  I was just going to rock her for a few minutes but then my eyes got heavy and...”

Magnus laughed, kissing him to stop Alec’s exhausted babbling.  “I know you didn’t, Alexander. Lovebug here is too smart for her own good and put a sleep spell on you.  Apparently, she thought you needed some more rest.” 

Alec looked between the two warlocks in his life and finally laughed, shaking his head.  “I don’t know how I am going to survive the both of you,” he chuckled, running his hand through his already messy hair.

“That’s exactly why you are going to survive.  Because you have the both of us.” Their daughter was starting to fall asleep in his arms so Magnus laid her down on her bed.  “But for now, you and I are going to bed where you can sleep without magical assistance.”

Alec took Magnus’ hand and followed him to their room, pulling Magnus close the moment they were both back in bed.  “Why do you think she did it?” he yawned, already drifting back off.

“Because you are the baby whisperer, my love,” Magnus grinned, kissing the top of Alec’s head.  If you fell asleep, she got you all to herself. Not that I can blame her. I might have to try that myself sometime.”

“No putting me to sleep, Magnus,” Alec laughed and pressed his face to his husband’s neck.  “You aren’t a baby.”

“And yet, you charmed me just like you charm them.  I never stood a chance.” Alec had started to snore and Magnus shook his head fondly, giving himself over to sleep as well, knowing they’d probably be up in a few hours to do it all over again.  

He couldn’t wait.

**Author's Note:**

> Come yell at me on tumblr at [brooklynxmagic](http://brooklynxmagic.tumblr.com) or [astudyinfic](http://astudyinfic.tumblr.com)


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